Biggest cosmic mystery 'step closer' to solutionStars, galaxies, planets, pretty much everything that makes up our everyday lives owes its existence to a cosmic quirk.
The nature of this quirk, which allowed matter to dominate the Universe at the expense of antimatter, remains a mystery.
Now, results from an experiment in Japan could help...

Apr 16, 2020

Face masks for allThe air that pours into your lungs when you breathe travels, on average, at about 10 centimeters a second. But it’s often not just air you’re breathing. There can be dust, pollen, soot and bacteria in air, and now, floating inside the droplets that people emit when they cough and sneeze and talk,...

Apr 15, 2020

Why the Big Bang Produced Something Rather Than NothingScientists on Wednesday announced that they were perhaps one step closer to understanding why the universe contains something rather than nothing.
Part of the blame, or the glory, they say, may belong to the flimsiest, quirkiest and most elusive elements of nature: neutrinos. These ghostly...

Apr 15, 2020

Neutrinos may explain why we don’t live in an antimatter universe We are getting closer to understanding why the universe is made of matter and not antimatter. It may be all down to how neutrinos change flavours.
Our leading theories tell us that, in the moments after the big bang, there was an equal amount of matter and antimatter. The two annihilate when they...

Apr 13, 2020

Physical Sciences in the time of coronavirusMarquise Crosby is fighting coronavirus
These days there are more sounds than people at the School of Physical Sciences. The Infinity Fountain splish-splashes outside Rowland Hall, and dry leafs crackle as they bounce across the pavement in the wind. There’s the endless exhale of ventilation...

An antivenin for every snake When a snake bites, it can inject a toxic cocktail of venom that can kill soft tissues in the body. The venom can be fatal — between 81,000 and 138,000 people die every year from snake bites, according to the World Health Organization — which is one of the reasons why Ken Shea in the Department of...

Apr 07, 2020

School #UCIReignite Campaign The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it with tremendous impact to our work, our homes, families and everything in between. With so many changes, staying motivated and connected to research interests is hard! Through the Physical Sciences #UCIReignite campaign we hope to spur our...

Apr 07, 2020

Campus labs making sample-preserving fluid for COVID-19 test kitsWidespread testing, even of those not showing symptoms, is one of the most effective ways to track the prevalence of coronavirus infections in communities.
The broad-based assays currently being ramped up by many hospitals and health systems around the country require a steady stream of single-use...